*** Fukushima *** and other nuclear-----updates and links

It's a move in the right direction. Wonder who will draw the short straw and have to change the filters.

Depth charges sent to wrong site in PLymouth
[link to www.bbc.co.uk]

[snip]

A Ministry of Defence report has criticised procedures after explosives were allowed into a high security nuclear dockyard in Plymouth.

~

Poland determined to develop nuclear energy program
[link to www.wbj.pl]

[snip]

Poland aims to launch its first nuclear power plant by 2020 in a bid to diversify its energy sources and end its reliance on Russian oil and gas.

~

They are going to need a lot of those 'small rotating furnaces'. And a bunch of 'filter changers'.

~

Northern Fleet: The burning submarine was armed
[link to www.barentsobserver.com]

2012-02-24

[snip]


Russia's Northern Fleet admits that the nuclear submarine “Yekaterinburg” that was seriously damaged in a fire outside Murmansk on December 29. 2011 had missiles and torpedoes on board.

Deputy Commander of the Northern Fleet Vice Admiral Aleksander Vitko says that the submarine was brought into dock outside Murmansk without having the weapons removed first.

- I returned from duty [note: as Commander of Northern Fleet’s mission to the Mediterranean] on the 16 of February, but I know for sure that the “Yekaterinburg” had weapons on board”, Vitko said to Lifenews. “I don’t know what politics the Command has right now, so I will not comment any further”.

~



That could have ended badly..

~
b

Senator Wolf calls for Pilgrim nuclear plant shutdown

[link to www.wickedlocal.com]

[snip]



“When you look at the benefits of a plant like Pilgrim, you have to look at the risk, and in a case where the risks are as high, and the consequences are so ugly, even if the likelihood is so small, you really have to question the benefits of having a plant in our backyard,” Wolf said.

Wolf said if this was a brand new proposed plant it would never be built in Plymouth, close to so many people. Pointing to two 13-year olds in the audience he said, “When you’re 32 you’re going to have to figure out what you’re going to do with a 60-year old piece of technology. Our generation is kicking the can down the road.”

~

Homes near Japan nuke plant may be banned for ever
--snip--
Measurements taken between November and January confirm earlier results which show a level of radioactivity of 470 millisierverts per year when the average, under normal conditions, is less than one per year, according to a government report released Friday.
[link to www.starafrica.com]

High radiation level logged in town near Fukushima plant
[link to mdn.mainichi.jp]

[snip]

High levels of radiation have been detected in municipalities in evacuation zones around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, with the highest reading of 470 millisieverts per year recorded in one town, a midterm report on an Environment Ministry survey showed Friday.


~
b

Fukushima Reactor 2 temperature levels rising over last 48 hours
[link to enformable.com]

~

Measurement of Radioactive Fallout from the March 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Reactor Incident
[link to nadp.sws.uiuc.edu]

~

Decontamination info center opens in Fukushima
The Environment Ministry and Fukushima Prefecture have begun to provide people concerned about radiation with information on how to clean up contaminated property.

Officials at an information center which opened last month in Fukushima City began to assist local residents on Saturday.
They offer information about decontamination steps and giving advice on how to do the work.

At the center, radiation counters and high-pressure sprays that are needed to remove radioactive substances from houses are on display.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
.

No-fly zone over Fukushima plant scaled back
Japan's transport ministry has scaled back the no-fly zone over the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant as radioactivity over the site has dropped to a safe level.

Aircraft are barred from flying within a 3-kilometer radius of the plant from midnight on Friday. The prior restricted zone had a radius of 20 kilometers.

Earlier this month, the transport and science ministries jointly surveyed radiation levels within the 20-kilometer no-fly zone.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission chief sides with Pilgrim watchdog group
[link to www.wickedlocal.com]

[snip]



The Fukushima nuclear plant has a similar reactor to the one at Pilgrim, which has been trying for six years to win approval from the NRC for a 20-year extension of its operating license.

“Given the significance of that accident (at Fukushima) and the potential implications for the safety of our nuclear reactors, we should allow members of the public to obtain hearings on new contentions on emerging information,” NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko wrote in a dissenting opinion released Wednesday.

Jaczko was the sole dissenter on the five-member commission, which is appointed by the president.



~

Agency finds around 10 flaws during inspection of Fukushima plant
[link to mdn.mainichi.jp]

[snip]

Among the findings, the utility had instructed departments concerned to change the amount of water injected into the No. 2 reactor only verbally, although it was supposed to give the instruction in writing under safety regulations.

The agency, will prepare a report on the inspections in about two weeks, the officials said.

(Mainichi Japan) February 25, 2012


~

I'd say a few of those 'flaws' are immense...

~
b

Off-topic but important..

~

Deepwater Horizon spill mega-lawsuit opens Monday in New Orleans
[link to www.bellona.org]

[snip]

Spill 4.9 million barrels of oil into the waters in the Gulf of Mexico and here’s what you get – what is heralded as the mother of all ecological lawsuits, the most complex environmental litigation in history, complete with hot-potato buck passing among the companies responsible for it who are facing tens of billions of dollars in liabilities, penalties and damages.

~
b

Japan seeks nuclear cooperation with Belarus
Japan is aiming to conclude a bilateral agreement with Belarus, which will allow sharing of information on nuclear accidents.

Belarus suffered severe damage from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine. The nuclear power plant was located just 10 kilometers from their border.

The Japanese government hopes to share information on nuclear accidents and resolve the current situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]

Just about 1 year too late...
.

TEPCO must be proactive in nuke crisis compensation negotiations

The government's center for settling disputes over compensation for nuclear accidents has revealed new restitution standards for the ongoing Fukushima nuclear crisis.

In principle, the standards call on Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) to pay 100,000 yen per month to every person that has left their home in accordance with official evacuation advisories. The amount should not be halved after the seventh month following the accident, as was initially planned.

Moreover, for those who evacuated at their own discretion, TEPCO is required to cover transportation and accommodation expenses in excess of the amounts listed by the interim guidelines set by the government's Dispute Reconciliation Committee for Nuclear Damage (400,000 yen for children and expecting mothers and 80,000 yen for others). TEPCO is also required to pay compensation for any damage caused by the nuclear disaster to properties in evacuation zones, even without on-site checks to confirm the properties' conditions.
[link to mdn.mainichi.jp]

Unit 2: Something Is Going On – Visual Diagrams Of Daily Changes

February 25th, 2012 | Add a Comment
[Translate]

Both NISA and the IAEA think there is enough of a chance that something is going on inside unit 2 that they have asked TEPCO to create alternative ways of measuring temperatures. IAEA also mentioned that the manner in which sensors fail does not match some of the behaviors seen on sensors in unit 2, hinting that sensors labeled failed may not be.
[link to www.simplyinfo.org]

The Japanese government will seek the resignation of Tokyo Electric's (Tepco) board of directors at a shareholder meeting in June in return for injecting $13 billion of public funds, the Mainichi newspaper said on Saturday.

The government decided that to clarify the responsibility over the firm's management, all 17 directors would have to go, the newspaper said without citing sources, adding that it also plans to halve the number of directors on the new board.

From an unlinkable source - Roto Roo****

Hey Bug - I'm putting the link here because I think it is important and I want to watch the other parts:

[link to dotsub.com]

Edit to add link for all 6 parts:

[link to dotsub.com]

Last Edited by Southern OR on 02/26/2012 12:07 AM

part 3

[link to dotsub.com]


~

part 4

[link to dotsub.com]

~

part 5

[link to dotsub.com]

part 6 is credits

~

You beat me to the punch. lol

~

NRC to give public report on Kansas nuclear plant

Read more here: [link to www.kansascity.com]

1943 graphite procurement document from Du Pont... for graphite reactor and eventual plutonium production. 860 tons of graphite....

[link to blogs.knoxnews.com]

[link to blogs.knoxnews.com]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission sea change?


[snip]

PLYMOUTH — While the Nuclear Regulatory Commission seems to be moving quickly now, dispensing with the objections and legal contentions standing in the way of relicensing the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, as those impediments are brushed aside something quite remarkable may be taking place.

Almost hidden in several recent decisions by the NRC – decisions which went against critics of relicensing – is the core of a sea change, a belief on the part of certain key individuals in this government bureaucracy that, at least in the case of recent concerns about the relevance of the Fukushima disaster to Pilgrim and other American nuclear power plants, business as usual is no longer acceptable.



Read more: Nuclear Regulatory Commission sea change? - Plymouth, MA - Wicked Local Plymouth [link to www.wickedlocal.com]

Nuke plant operators slow to implement tsunami safeguards
[link to ajw.asahi.com]

[snip]

In the aftermath of reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant last March, the government called on all plant operators to swiftly take safety measures against earthquakes and tsunami.

Nearly 12 months on, it is envisaged that only three nuclear facilities will have coastal levees completed by the end of the year.

Not one operator has managed to put measures in place to prevent hydrogen explosions. In fact, many have not even started the work to implement the measures.

~
b

3.1×10E11 Bq/m3 of cesium leaked from the water purifying system
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

~

Monitoring post manipulated
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

[snip]


Mr. Hasegawa, a cattle farmer from Iidate mura states the monitoring post data of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is manipulated.

In this conference, he stated ,last November, Taisei corporation, which was outsourced for decontamination by the government, had 10 of their employees wash the monitoring post by high-pressure water and changed the whole soil of the base.

According to MEXT, the radiation level of Iidate mura in 2/20 was 0.755 microSv/h. However, another monitoring post was showing 3 microSv/h.

Additionally, on 3/14, when reactor3 exploded, the dosemeter in town councilor was showing 40 microSv/h, but the staff of town hall told him not to tell it to anyone because the town mayor forbids it.

Assistant professor Imanaka from Kyoto university checked the radiation level around in the town late in March but the town mayor requested him not to disclose it either.

~
b

A letter arguing for nuclear power touched off a lively debate. Here is a sampling.
[link to www.nytimes.com]

~

Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012


Radiation still high around Fukushima No. 1
[link to www.japantimes.co.jp]

[snip]

Nov. 7 to Jan. 16 showed that the readings topped 50 millisieverts on an annual basis — a level deemed uninhabitable under a proposed new classification — in many spots north-northwest of the crippled power station.

The highest level of 470 millisieverts was logged northwest of the plant at a spot in Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, while the lowest level of 5.8 millisieverts was detected in another part of the same town, the ministry said.

~
b